Sheila Jackson Lee: “I want to listen to the families. I oppose this legislation, and I ask my colleagues to vote against it. Mr. Chair, I…”

“I want to listen to the families. I oppose this legislation, and I ask my colleagues to vote against it. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to H.R. 982, the so-called ``Fairness in Class Action Litigation and Furthering Asbestos Claim Transparency Act of 2015.'' I oppose this intrusive and burdensome legislation for two reasons. First, I oppose H.R. 1927 because it would prohibit a federal court from certifying a federal class action unless each class member has suffered the same type and same scope of injury as the named class representative. The practical effect of this requirement, if enacted, would be the effective immunization of corporate misconduct and fraud such as the Volkswagen ``cheat device'' scandal on CleanDiesel vehicles. For example, if H.R. 1927 were to become law, two families who were defrauded by Volkswagen would not be able to join together to bring a class action because they bought their cars at slightly different times or drove the cars in slightly different ways. This makes no sense unless the objective is to discourage ordinary Americans from obtaining relief for the injuries caused by the misconduct of large national corporations.…”